New CIOCAN/SFU Leadership Program in IT gets High Marks from First Graduates
The highest rating (93%) was given in the "opportunity to meet new people" category. "This is much more than an endorsement of the social aspects of the program", says CIOCAN's
Program graduate Shawn Zanganeh, president of SimPoSys and Senior IT consultant at Teck Cominco says, " To make the leap to leader and strategic partner in any business you need a broader mind set and a more sophisticated set of tools. In my first project after the course, I was able to put on the lenses of other C-Suite executives - to see the project from the points of view of the CFO and the VP HR, for example. This course really cured me of the tunnel vision that can happen in IT. It also helps that I stay in touch with several of the other graduates - in the few weeks since our term ended, we've linked up regularly to share ideas and reinforce what we've learned."
The inaugural program, offered to senior IT directors and fledgling CIOs from B.C.'s lower mainland, comprised intensive evening sessions led by SFU's top business faculty, plus individual and group assignments. Major course modules included: The Talent Advantage: Six Strategies to Win the War for IT Talent; The Economic Laws of IT; Project Management and Building Better Business Cases; Aligning Business and IT Strategies; The Role of Outsourcing: Build, Buy, or Partner; Governance of the IT Function.
Blaze Reich, one of SFU's senior professors on the project, says "this program gives participants frameworks and theories to help them lead within their organizations. Decisions about innovation, outsourcing, alignment and governance are classic business issues - it's not about technology at this level."
"By joining forces with SFU Business' Learning Strategies Group to offer this program, we were able to meet demands both of individual learners, and of business and industry", says CIOCAN's
Adam Cotterall is Associate Director of the Learning Strategies Group and Program Director for the CIOCAN Leadership Development Program. He describes the program as "a shared success achieved through the visionary leadership of the CIOCAN's
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For further information: Lisa Bateman, (604) 461-0246 or [email protected]
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